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Construction of the railway began in 1904, under the name Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway. It became the Ontario Northland in 1946 when the system was purchased by the provincial government.
Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming and Lake Nipissing areas, this railway soon became a major factor in the economic growth of the province. After decades of hard construction through the Canadian ShieldThe Canadian Shield is a large geographic area in eastern and central Canada, composed of bare rock dating to the Precambrian Era (between 4. 5 billion and 540 million years ago). It is also called the Precambrian Shield or Laurentian Shield or Laurentian it reached James Bay in 19321932 is the leap year starting on Friday. see link for calendar) Events January-February January 3 British arrest and intern Mohandas Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel January 8 In Britain the Archbishop of Canterbury forbids church remarriage of divorcees Jan. While blasting the route through the shield, geologistA geologist is a contributor to the science of geology. Geologists study the physical structure and processes of the Earth. Their undergraduate training typically includes significant coursework in chemistry, physics, mathematics and possibly biology, ins discovered vast deposits of valuable mineralMinerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. The term "mineral" encompasses not only the material's chemical composition but also the mineral structures. Minerals range in composition from pure elements and simple salts to very comps such as goldFor alternative meanings, see gold (disambiguation Gold is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Au ( L. aurum and atomic number 79. A soft, shiny, yellow, heavy, malleable, ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal, gold d, copperCopper is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. Notable characteristics Copper is a reddish-coloured metal, with a high electrical and thermal conductivity (among pure metals at room temperature, only silver and nickelThis article is about the element nickel. See also nickel (U. coin) and nickel (Canadian coin). Nickel is a metallic chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ni and atomic number 28. Notable characteristics Nickel is silvery white metal. The railway also made it possible to exploit the vast timberTimber is a term used to describe clusters of trees. It is also used to describe wood throughout its processing from the time it is cut down to the time it is used as a structural material. The word timber is also used as an exclamation when a tree falls. resources of northern Ontario. The importance of the ONR is witnessed by the vast increase in mineral exploration and exploitation, giving rise to the valuable mining stocks on the Toronto Stock Exchange and indirectly leading to Southern Ontario's economic boom during the 1970s.
The railway is still operated today by the Ontario Northland Transport Commission, which also runs various other transport enterprises, including a bus coach services along the Toronto- North Bay- Timmins- Hearst and Toronto- Sudbury- Timmins corridors, and a telephone and telecommunications company. The commission is an agency of the Ontario government and is used to promote development in northern Ontario.
Ontario Northland is best known for the daily Polar Bear Express train which runs from Cochrane to Moosonee, bringing tourists as well as essential supplies to this remote northern town, which cannot be reached by road. The "Express" part of the name is something of a joke, because the train will happily stop along its route to pick up or drop off canoeing parties. There is also a "mixed" freight/passenger train affectionately called the Little Bear, as well as the Northlander which runs from Toronto to Cochrane.
In the late 1990s, CN applied to abandon sections of its underused former National Transcontinental Railway mainline across northern Ontario. A significant portion between Calstock-Cochrane was sold to ONR.
Connections with other railway systems are made as follows: